Your main guitar and its story.

koneguitarist · June 2014

Well my story goes back to 95-96 when I opened a guitar shop In Wincanton.

As is often the case, the guitar you want is one that always sells, so talking to a mate Andy Stevens, he said why don't I knock you up a tele then as it will have no real value,there will be no point selling it. Good idea in practice so we literally drew round a USA tel with a felt tip marker pen, and off he went. Two weeks later, if that, he turned up and said what about this. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/originaltele.jpg Well I had given him the spare 6 saddle bridge off a 52reissue that I had lying around, and some other dubious hardware inc a strap button off a Aria ProII bass, a control plate off of my old tele which I had drilled holes in. Then a spare set of EMG pickups was added along with my first attempt at a B bender made of aluminium. That guitar was tweaked and bits changed with for a while including a Mighty mite neck and new B bender made of Steel. With new neck. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/SCAN0001.jpg Then after a while got talking to a young lad who knocked me up a new body out of spalted beech top and a ash back, but top loaded. So it looked like this. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/cd3051ee-0c31-4815-bd63-1fe6ad35144a_zps8693adad.jpg Then i started having more and more problems with my hands cramping up with Arthritis and a new neck was made so it looked like this. After Keith Robbins of Yeovil made me a new fat neck. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/3505ad70-2630-493f-8012-356b80be5df6_zpsbb788fd9.jpg Then after a myriad of various pickups being used in middle and neck I decided to go to a Esquire. But after so many different enquiries how to wire an esquire using a Gibson toggle switch, I decided to go back to a fender style switch, which meant hacking body up a bit, then I ended up putting a scratchplate on it and then darkened top down with a mixture of oil,boot Polish and dirty rags. So it now looks sort of like this. http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zps30a30758.jpg Still fancy a change to another tapped pickup like Ash does, just got to get round to it! Sorry it's so long winded But it's the same guitar as you can see the bridge plate( even though it went from 6steel to 3 steel then 3 compensated brass saddles. Oh and it's the same Aria strap button, at least I think it's an Aria could have been off an old Ibanez.

koneguitarist · June 2014

Oh and for those who are keen on the real tone aspects of how it sounds, well I added a piece of Welsh slate and set it into a leather scratchplate. As welsh slate surely has a better tone than any other !

mike_l · June 2014

That really is a "Triggers Broom" guitar.

EricTheWeary · June 2014

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/y513/phlplls/imagejpg1_zps15b227d0.jpg

EricTheWeary · June 2014

Hey, I posted a picture!

As I'm not in a gigging band or recording anything or even practising much not sure how I would define main guitar. Anyhow, it's the longest served. Without checking it's about 25 years old. I was a very bad bass player and could play a few things on my cheap acoustic 6 string as well. I sold my bass gear and with the money went to a closing down sale in a shop in Rugby, I think, bit of a vague memory. I wanted a telecaster and came back with this MIJ Strat. At the point I got into a band I had a tremsetter fitted ( and shortly after just blocked off the trem and have avoided trems since) and a Hot Rails at the bridge came around that time. When I had a couple of guitar lessons ( hard to believe I know...) it got loaned to my teacher for a session on Radio 1. Years roll by and I'm in my little blues band. Last chord of the last song and my fist went through the scratch plate. So, the original white one got replaced by the tortoiseshell one. Somewhere in all this it also had a refret and a few years ago the pups were replaced by Fender 57/62's. Schaller strap locks came and went as well.The water slides and Pokemon sticker also fairly recent. I think this photo is 2011.

axisus · June 2014

Did I miss the bit explaining the knob at the back???

littlegreenman · June 2014

axisus said:

Did I miss the bit explaining the knob at the back???

"along with my first attempt at a B bender made of aluminium. That guitar was tweaked and bits changed with for a while including a Mighty mite neck and new B bender made of Steel."

digitalscream · June 2014

My Jaden Rose Series 2, #7:

That pic was taken at MonkeyFest in 2011. I won a ticket to go, so I went along just for the buzz (met some great folk from Rob Chapman's forum, too). I ended up spending a significant amount of time chatting to Jaden and playing all of the guitars he had there, but this one - thankfully the cheapest

- just grabbed me in a way that none of the others did. I couldn't stop playing it.

In the end, I asked him to hold it for me so I could at least get the cash together for a deposit. Four or five weeks later, I couldn't stand it any longer so I got myself a credit card (I hadn't had one for years) and splurged on it. When I went to collect it, I spent the whole afternoon playing every guitar in his workshop, and still this was the one for me.

The poor ol' gal's had a bit of a tough life and looks quite different now - the blue/green finish has darkened down to let the natural colour of the wood come through a bit, and is quite worn where my arm, palm and fingers sit (and around the volume control and pickup switch). It looks more awesome and lived-in than knackered, though, and that's why I love this kind of finish. The original bonkers ceramic pickups have been replaced with Oil City 'buckers too, for more control and dynamics.

Still by far the best guitar I've ever owned, and that's why almost all of my other guitars are gone now. In three years of constant rehearsing, gigging and recording she's never once let me down. I know it's not long, but I'd have expected something to go.

Niallmo · June 2014

This is my 2001 Squier Standard Strat. It's been through a lot! Currently it's in pieces awaiting resurrection in the next couple of weeks. These go from newest to oldest. It was always my test bed and I'm amazed it still plays so well. It's had almost every pick up iteration apart from P90's and at one point when it had the Lace Golds it had the Clapton Mid-boost kit too. It was my relic'ing practice guitar and I've had to sand the fretboard a bit as it looked awful at one point last year with all the trial relic work it had. Funnily enough the honest bit of wear is the heaviest, the massive scratch by the neck/body joking was a natural act of stupidity when it got jammed on something underneath my stairs while in storage and I pulled a bit too hard to get it Un-jammed!

In the past...

I'll put it back to SSS and I've ordered a parchment scratch plate because despite having about 12 Strat pickguards I didn't have an SSS 3 ply!

koneguitarist · June 2014

axisus said:

Did I miss the bit explaining the knob at the back???

Yep, when I made a SS version, to hide the fact it was a B bender, I cut a tele knob in half and fitted it on the top of the spindle, so it does look like an extra control.

Octahedron · June 2014

The story of my main guitar is...

I moved far away. It would be a while before I'd be reunited with my guitar collection and so out of desperation I splurged $800 on a new Les Paul Standard (ebony), and because I didn't have an amp/didn't want to pay for an amp as well, I bought a Vox Amplug and a ToneLab ST. I plugged the Amplug into the output of the ToneLab and plugged a set of 2.1 PC speakers into the headphone socket of the Amplug and adjusted the knobs on that to taste so it wasn't piling on heaps of gain, basically, a good "clean" tone from that and then whatever I wanted from the ToneLab. I don't do this anymore, it's kinda crazy. Out of all that all I've got still are the PC speakers and the LP! :P

But that LP is still my main guitar. It's cool. The action's good. It's got a good 'typical' tone, sounds great all-round. Does the jazzy thing, the bluesy thing, the rock thing... I say you can't go wrong with a good old LP shaped mahogany slab

tbm · June 2014

I don't really have a main guitar, but this is my best and go-to axe for everything:

1988 US Standard Tele. Not much of story really. I bought it in 1994. My first good guitar. Paid IRL£375. It replaced a Charvette super strat with a reverse headstock. I'd been a metal only guy up till then, but Dinosaur Jr, Sugar, Soundgarden and Sonic Youth had a big impact on me. For years it was the only thing I used, but when I started working around 2000 I started buying other axes. It's had the nut and the first 5 frets changed, and the bridge pickup died a few years ago. There's a Rio Grande Halfbreed in there now. The thing I love about this guitar is the it feels like home. It'll also do anything! It'll do heavy stuff, it's to strummy stuff, it's just a fantastic guitar. I play other guitars for different bands and different things, but this tele, a boost pedal and an decent amp is all I need really.

I've heard a few times that when then started making Strats and Tele again in 87/88 there were only a few people building guitars at Fender, and the guitars were of a very high standard. That could be BS, I dunno. Anyway, it'll never ever be sold, not for anything. My kids will own this guitar one day.

monquixote · June 2014

I wanted a DGT

Photek was selling a DGT

I bought Photek's DGT

Hmm not a classic anecdote.

Elx · June 2014

Back in 2010 I went to the USA, it was my first trip across the pond and I told myself I was bringing back a guitar with me. I bought this Strat Ultra for 400$ from a priest in Richmond, VA. My wife-to-be paid for it and I managed to smuggle it in front of the customs officers in Amsterdam which made the deal even sweeter...It's a very special guitar, I replaced the stupid Lace Sensors with DiMarzio Paul Gilbert Injectors and it sings...I have 3 or 4 other guitars that I'm never selling, and this one is on top of the list...

ChrisMusic · June 2014

Hey @Niallmo that is a nice picture story, if you just use the DIRECT links in Photobucket they would all show here, and without all that code cluttering up your presentation too. Same for you @Elx. Just use the cog icon you get top right when you hover over a post, and go back in and edit them so we can all enjoy the pictures.

Dropbox / forum software doesn't allow direct linking of images @tbm, you may need alternative hosting like Photobucket, Imgur etc.

See here for a bit more info:

Posting pictures ~ a little help

cunningly hidden in Forum Index & FAQs > General , or it is also the first sticky announcement at the top of Classifieds > Guitar

Hope that helps

tbm · June 2014

ChrisMusic said:

Dropbox / forum software doesn't allow direct linking of images @tbm, you may need alternative hosting like Photobucket, Imgur etc.

@chrismusic Thats weird, can you not see it? It works fine for me. Checked in FF, IE and Chrome.

Niallmo · June 2014

@chrismusic I'm on an iPad and trying to get some formatting in so used the HTML button. Can I use direct links in the HTML mode?

digitalscream · June 2014

I have to confess...the apostrophe in the thread title was making my eyeballs itch every time I got a notification, so I abused my admin powers and fixed it.

As you were.

ChrisMusic · June 2014

Hey @tbm, it may have been a glitch my end, I have reloaded the page now, and it is showing beautifully under Safari. I was told that there was a problem with Dropbox and have often seen just the ? in a box showing instead of a picture from Dropbox, but yours seems fine, sorry to worry you

Same with the other two, but there is still a lot of superfluous code in yours @Niallmo, not sure about iPad stuff, sorry, but the pics are fine, guess my computer has been having a siesta in this lovely weather, or maybe it's me who needs one.

Using the DIRECT link in Photobucket is the way to do it for best effect

If anyone can clarify using iPads and mobiles, and how other image hosts work, including Dropbox, please feel free to add it into the "Posting Pictures" thread. There are still a lot of issues and it would be nice to have some advice that works for everyone. Thanks

ICBM · June 2014

I think this one is still my main guitar…

http://www.theangelconversations.com/pics/381.jpg

Rickenbacker 381.

It came to me by accident - a friend of mine had bought it from Ebay in the US under the misrepresentation that it was a '69… it's actually an '89 V69 reissue. But it was in very poor condition, and could just about pass as being 40 years old rather than 20, if you weren't too familiar with the minute detail of Rickenbacker guitars. He (I think) got some money back on it, but decided he didn't like it anyway and put it back on Ebay. But there were serious things wrongs with it - offputting things, for most buyers. It has been dropped at some time and although the neck hasn't been broken, the impact and whiplash shattered a large amount of finish off around the neck joint, and there is a crack in the headstock from the E tuner down to the edge.

It didn't sell. So he brought it over to me for a check to make quite sure that none of the damage was actually as bad as it looked, so he could advertise it more accurately. I opened the case, and looked at it - it's quite an odd thing, with the deeply carved body, huge sweeping cutaway horns and the neck apparently high up in the air… and then I picked it up and strummed a chord - and knew instantly that I had to have it. There was a small problem… no money! So on the spur of the moment I offered him a PRS I had which I wasn't using much as a straight swap - knowing that it was a much easier guitar to sell, and possibly worth a touch more given the condition of the Rick. He cautiously accepted - on the condition that no-one bought the Rick on Ebay, since he would really prefer cash… so I had to wait a week, watching the auction every day and praying no-one would bid on it.

And no-one did

. So we did the swap, he kept the PRS a couple of months then decided he didn't really like it either, and sold it easily for a bit more than he would have got for the Rick if it had gone for the starting price… win-win. Although subsequently Rickenbacker have massively increased the price of these, and I think it's probably now worth about double what I "paid", which he constantly reminds me of

. But it was a fair swap at the time! And I have no intention of ever selling it anyway.

I have repaired the headstock crack and touched up the finish damage - not invisibly, I really don't care that much, just well enough that it looks OK on stage. I also changed the pickups - those are the 'correct' pickups for a 1989 381 *standard* model (which doesn't exist), rather than a reissue… it came with Toasters, which is correct for a 381V69, but are an odd choice since the 381 was the Rickenbacker model which introduced the High-Gain pickups in the first place! And I feel suit it better. And it is quite an odd guitar for a 'reissue' - the truss rod cover and knobs are the modern type not the reissue ones, and there's no evidence the other type of cover was ever fitted… so who knows what it is. I've also taken off the raised pickguard which is still on in the pic and which is broken across the lowest screw hole.

The first time I used it I was going to an open-mic at which I had been assured there was a small guitar amp, so I didn't take mine… there wasn't. So I just plugged it straight into the PA - and it sounded fantastic, almost like an acoustic-electric and possibly the sound I had always been looking for! Since then I've improved the method by using the stereo outputs to run the neck pickup direct and the bridge either to a guitar amp or to the PA via an amp simulator - mixed together, it's almost like playing two guitars at once somehow.

So there it is… if I had to pick just one guitar out of all the ones I've ever owned, to keep as my only guitar for the rest of my playing life, it would be this one.

koneguitarist · June 2014

I think Rickenbackers are like an Alfa Romeo they do look completely different to any other guitar, a class of its own. Part of me would like one, knowing full well I will almost certainly get rid of it within days. Looks exotic though.

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